The Handheld Computer
From crispyneurons
An NC by another name?... by Jason Wells
November 1997
By now, probably everyone who cares about information technology, and a lot of people who don't, have heard of the network computer (NC) concept. In case you haven't been following along, the NC is a specification for a simple, cheap, and easy-to-use computer that assumes a network connection, because it has little (if any) local storage; files are kept on a remote server.
In this sense, it acts as a 'thin' network client (when compared to the 'fat' client -- a traditional PC). Part of the idea is that it's highly reliable; you can simply turn it on and use it, without having to fuss with anything. Simply put: You (the consumer) plunk down your $500, plug the box into the power outlet, plug it into the phone line (or local area network), turn it on, and away you go.
The most vocal proponent of the NC concept is Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle, though a variety of other industry bigwigs, such as Scott McNealy at Sun, have also lined up in support of the NC. This has given the NC concept a lot of momentum -- but there are some big problems with the idea.
The biggest of all is that few NCs exist! Even if you wanted to buy one, where would you go? You might elect to buy a WebTV box at a consumer electronics store, but at this time, that would seem to make for the entire selection. Pretty poor pickings, one might conclude.
Another problem is that the concept hasn't been proven. It's well known that consumers will pay $2000 for a respectable PC, but will they pay around $500 for a weaker computer that isn't Windows-compatible? No one knows, and there are grave doubts.
In this article, however, I'm going to explore the NC concept in a different way. I've discovered some weaknesses in the conventional wisdom regarding the network computer.
Right now, if you want, you can go buy a computer that is cheap (approximately $500), contains little (if any) local storage, is simple to use, and is capable of connecting to any network. These computers are able to boot up instantly (or nearly so), are extremely reliable, and are highly portable to boot.
In other words, the ideal NC, and then some. I refer to the handheld personal computer.
[edit] The Handheld
Compared to even 12 months ago, the range of choices in the handheld computer market (call them PDAs if you want) is astounding. These computers range in price from the remarkably tiny Pilot, which can be had for only $250, to the powerful Newton MessagePad 2000, which retails at just under $1000. In the middle are handhelds that run the Windows CE operating system; these tend to inhabit the $500-600 price range.
While none of these handheld computers are currently thought of as NCs, they all conform to the NC philosophy, in spirit if not the formal specification, in at least four ways.
- They are all easily made network-aware. Each of them has one or two standard PC Card slots, into which modems or network cards may be inserted.
- None of these computers have much in the way of persistent storage. Most of them rely on flash RAM cards, each of which can hold between 4 and 32 megabytes of software or data. Compared to hard drives, these cards are very expensive, but they have the advantage of being extremely small, durable, low-power, having no moving parts, and having extremely quick access speeds.
This shortage of local storage is consistent with the NC model, which does not require a hard drive. The idea is to use the hard drive on the network server as the persistent store. Handhelds fit right into this thinking.
- They are all general purpose computers, and may be programmed as such; these are not glorified pocket calculators or digital Rolodexes, though they may contain those functions. Each of them is based on a modern operating system. In the Newton OS, for example, you have a 32-bit, object-oriented operating system with preemptive multitasking and a comprehensive API presented through an object framework. The others contain comparable operating systems.
It's quite remarkable that it was even possible to cram this functionality onto devices with limited RAM and extremely limited persistent storage. It's especially impressive when one considers the price points at which these devices are offered.
This is exactly in line with the NC goal of having a lightweight, modern operating system.
- Each of these computers boasts broad independent software developer support. Each is capable of retrieving and reading e-mail or Web pages. Each of them has PIM functionality of some kind, such as scheduling and contact information management. They can also do word processing at some level. In fact, even video games are available.
These are real computers, though their diminutive size may cause people to question it. Even the weakest of these computers is comparable in processing power to a 386. The most powerful of the bunch, the MessagePad 2000, contains a 162MHz StrongARM processor, which has been compared to a low-end Pentium in terms of performance. Any of them would be adequate for NC applications.
[edit] The Handheld is the NC
Microsoft appears to agree with my thinking. Witness an August 4 article on the PC Week Web site:
As recently as last Friday, Microsoft had planned to discuss Hydra (the multiuser version of Windows NT) and Windows Terminal, sources close to the situation said.
The exact reasons for yesterday's omission were not clear, although sources said Microsoft is still undecided about which operating system to use as a front end for the terminal.
However, Phil Holden, a Microsoft product manager, said the company has settled on Windows CE 2.0.
A hardware specification for the terminal is expected by summer's end, he said.
Microsoft plans to use Windows CE-based handheld computers as terminals for accessing a multi-user Windows NT server. This is essentially the classical NC architecture, though Microsoft would not admit it publicly.
The Windows CE computer functions as the thin client, while NT Server is used as the hefty network server. This makes a lot of sense, since Windows CE computers were intended to supplement the PC, not replace it, and that means network connectivity to Windows. The same is true for the Pilot and Newton; all may be synchronized with a personal computer. Again, we find another common thread between the NC thinking and the handheld thinking.
In the Newton, Apple has long had a great NC. Now that Larry Ellison seems to be joining the board at Apple, many industry analysts believe that Apple's focus will now gravitate more towards the NC. The idea, however, actually predates this development. Months ago, in a document posted on the Apple Recon site analysts at RFI described their concept of a Newton-based NC:
Basically, a Portable NC is a wireless modem with a screen and a keyboard. It could be as small as a Newton MessagePad...
The "computing power" would be provided by the network server that would provide the "applets" to perform whatever tasks were needed at that time.
The Operating System (OS) that operates the Portable NC would be a "minimal OS" whose main function would be to provide high speed communications (such as the Newton OS) between the network server and the NC. The "connection" would be made either by wireless modems or phone lines when available. The phone lines would include: analog, ISDN, etc.
The Portable NC could have limited storage capabilities via Flash ROM and other features as needed or requested. Such features would include: AV jacks for external audio/video, Ethernet ports, SCSI buses and even infrared transceivers. There are more, but these are a representative sample.
These folks were envisioning something more along the lines of a Newton eMate 300 as the baseline for their portable NC. Perhaps the MessagePad 2000 would suffice as well. In either case, if Apple wants an NC, it has one right now, in the form of a Newton.
[edit] NC Now
The design philosophy behind the NC is just too similar to that of the handheld computer; the two will inevitably merge to some degree. The handheld concept is, in practice, a superset of the NC concept.
Basically, a handheld computer can be thought of as a mobile, portable NC. (In fact, handheld are extremely mobile; they can all last weeks, or even months, on a single set of batteries, and all of them weigh less than two pounds.) So if you are interested in experiencing the NC today, you can. Just don't look for the NC logo. Look for a handheld.
Jason Wells realizes that no one even speaks of network computers anymore, but nevertheless feels vindicated that his predictions in this article have already come true.
